In Support of Agreement on Gifted Teachers and Education as a Giftedness Performance Domain / U prilog suglasnosti o darovitim učiteljima i obrazovanju kao domeni darovitosti

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore relationships between one of the behavioral definitions of quality educational practice (ISSA's Definition of Quality) and the implicit theories on gifted teachers held by four groups of study participants (N=199). If giftedness is valued across different performance domains, including education, the question that needs to be addressed is whether there are gifted teachers, and how they can be identified. Using profile analysis, two groups of teachers, pre-service teachers (n=47), and experts (n=61), rated the proposed quality indicators as behaviors highly indicative of their exemplary gifted teachers. This offers support to the construct validity of operationalization of gifted teachers as those competently demonstrating consensually agreed upon indicators of quality at a high level, across different focus areas of educational practice. The results were interpreted in accordance with the contemporary, empirically proven influence of teachers on students' learning and the outcomes of this learning. Special emphasis was placed on the behavioral operationalization of quality in educational practice, and how it overlaps with the construct of giftedness as manifested in adulthood (in competence, in expertise, and finally, in eminence), suggesting inclusion of education as one of the giftedness performance domains.

A Longitudinal Study of the Social Nature of the Construct of Giftedness in Adulthood

“…Gifted individuals show a greater promise of the development of expertise than do non-gifted individuals. When giftedness is defined as a developing expertise (Sternberg, 2001) or a great performance (Subotnik & Jarvin, 2005), and the creative development as the acquired expertise (Simonton, 2000) observable in education (Mikulić, Rački, & Brajković, 2017), then a common ground is formed for the research on giftedness in beginning teachers as the developing experts.…”